


Florida Storms

by SpitFire20



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-18
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:53:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,589
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22780540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpitFire20/pseuds/SpitFire20
Summary: Ashlyn is just trying to get to a party. What she saw along the way was welcomed and unexpected.
Relationships: Ashlyn Harris/Ali Krieger
Comments: 17
Kudos: 120





	1. Chapter 1

“I know, Pinoe! – Yes I have the wine. I have the drinks. – Would you feel better if I told you I literally just got in my jeep? I’m on the way. – I’ll be there in 10, alright? Jeez. – Yes it’s just – Fine. Whatever. I’ll see you soon, you nutcase.”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes at her phone, dropping it in the passenger seat while she wiped the water from her eyes. It was pouring rain outside. Like a monsoon. Although this was Florida, so more like a hurricane. Either way, her blonde hair was now sticking to her neck in waves and she was looking down at her black shirt in frustration.

At least it was warm.

She turned the key, kick starting the jeep, and whipped out of the parking lot of campus. But she didn’t make it far.

“What the hell?” she mumbled to herself, frowning and squinting her eyes out of the passenger side window at the figure she spotted. She slowed the car down as she stared, trying to get a good view.

It was hard to see, honestly. The rain was so thick that she almost didn’t even see the person, but there she was. Head down. Red hoodie over her head. Knees to her chest, sitting on the sidewalk. Ashlyn had half a thought to keep driving, mainly because it wasn’t cold. It was just raining. No thunderstorms. Whoever it was would be fine. But her grandma would disown her if she found out. She wasn’t raised to be a douche.

So reluctantly, knowing that Pinoe was going to be pissed because she’d be late, Ashlyn threw the jeep into park about ten yards from the figure, hopping out. She didn’t have an umbrella, hoodie, nothing. So she shoved her hands into her sweat pants, water soaking her t-shirt and moved over towards – wait a minute…

“Ali?” Ashlyn gasped, the brunette’s head lifting up at the sound of Ashlyn’s jeep door closing. “Ali Krieger. What the hell are you doing out here?”

Ali wiped at her face. The attempt was pointless though. Any tears from the red and swollen eyes were immediately covered with rain water. “Hey, Ash.”

Her voice sounded sore. Ashlyn frowned, immediately dropping on to the curb, arm going around Ali’s shoulder. “Jesus, Ali. What’s going on?”

“It’s a long story.”

“You need to get out of the rain.”

“I realize that.”

“Why aren’t you in your apartment?”

“Yeah about that, Jess kicked me out. Her girlfriend is in town so…”

“She kicked you – what the – Ali, come on. You need to get out of the rain,” she repeated, giving a slight tug to Ali’s shoulder. The other girl leaned with her but not enough that Ashlyn was confident she was moving. So instead, Ashlyn sighed, wiping her head again and glaring at the building she knew Ali lived in.

“Can I at least bring you to Pinoe’s place?”

Ali groaned. “The last thing I need is for Sydney to see me like this. She knows what’s going and she’ll kill me for sulking in my misery.”

“She’s your best friend-”

“Who asks a lot of questions.”

Ashlyn leaned her head back in aggravation. Her morals weren’t going to let her leave unless Ali was in the car. “You have two seconds to get up and get my car.”  
Ali, even with a teary face, shook her head. “I’m fine, Ash. It’s like eighty-five degrees outside so–”

“Nope. Not acceptable,” Ash interrupted. She stood, reaching down and grabbing Ali’s arm, yanking her up. It wasn’t hard enough to hurt, but Ali came willingly. Well, for a short period before yanking her arm away. “Ali, get in the car.”

“No, just – ASHLYN! PUT ME DOWN!”

With one swift move, thanks to goalkeeper training, Ashlyn had Ali across her shoulder. She was heavy but not impossible to handle. But with the rain and the added weight on the clothing, Ashlyn’s grip started slipping after a few steps. And Ali was relentless.

“Let me down, Ashlyn! Now! I swear to God!”

“Alright,” the blonde broke down, dropping Ali but making sure to nudge her towards the Jeep as she did. “You’re down. Now get in the car.”

Ali looked at the Jeep and crossed her arms defiantly. “And if I don’t?”

“Don’t make me kidnap you. Now get in the car.”

\------------------------------------------------

“You brought Krieger?” Meagan Rapinoe beamed, shoving Ashlyn with that ‘you dawg you’ kind of look. “She’s a babe. How’d you swing that? I thought you guys didn’t talk much.”

Ashlyn hushed her, looking behind them to the stairs that Sydney had yanked Ali up upon arrival. It seemed quiet. The shower kicked on as Ashlyn strained to hear. Hopefully Sydney can get whatever information was needed that Ashlyn couldn’t. Ali was practically radio silent all the way here. At least the drive was short.

“Look, man. She was soaking wet, you saw her.”

Pinoe grinned like the chestier cat. “I bet she was.”

“Not – Jesus Christ. You’re insatiable. Not like that. She was upset.”

Meagan shrugged on shoulder, sipping the whiskey in her hand. “Dude, you’ve had a crush on her since freshmen year. She’s practically a damsel in distress. You had an opportunity!”

Ashlyn rolled her eyes. “I think Ali would call it more along the lines of kidnapping based on how it went down.”

“Two soaking wet women alone in a jeep on a early September night in Florida. Yeah. Sounds dreadful,” Meagan smirked, shaking her head.

With that reminder, Ashlyn looked down at her clothes again. “Right, do you think I can borrow some clothes? Nyssa left some stuff here after last game, right?”

“Her sweatpants are in the laundry room,” Meagan confirmed, obviously bummed out that Ashlyn wasn’t willing to start playing around “Get changed so we can get drunk.”

“Right. Drinking in a college apartment on a Friday night with a sex addict, the sassy Sydney, and–”

“The most beautiful brunette you ever did see?” Meagan teased in a sing-song voice.

Ashlyn glared at her. “Say anything tonight, and your ass is grass. Understand?”

“No. But I’ll pretend to.”


	2. One Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No promises for any extra chapters, but I got a few messages asking for one so I did my best. Hope it doesn't let you down!

Ali collapsed on Sydney’s bed after a much needed hot shower cry. Her eyes felt puffy, but she was too tired to care. Part of her was happy to be out of the rain, but the other part really didn’t want to be around anybody right now.

Her best friend sat at her desk though, and those eyes were drilling into Ali’s form. She could feel it like lasers. She wanted to ignore her, but she knew that was impossible. So she leaned up on her hands, wiping her tired eyes one more time. “I’m sorry.”

“You could’ve called me,” Sydney said with a tinge of anger and a hurt. “Pinoe already canceled everyone else coming over. I don’t know what you were thinking instead of calling me or telling me about whatever the hell happened.”

“I know.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I was scared, Syd.”

“Imagine how I felt!” Sydney blurted out, and Ali looked defeated at the outburst. “Ali, you’re my best friend. And yet, Ashlyn has to drag you in here like you’re scared to be around us. She found you soaking wet in the rain, crying. Honestly, am I useless or something?”

“You’re not useless.”

“Then why didn’t you call me? We both know that Jess didn’t kick you out. I want to know the real reason why you felt the need to sulk by yourself in misery.”

Ali took a deep, shaky breath, closing her eyes and falling back against the bed, her wet hair digging into her back through the t-shirt she borrowed. “Kyle.”

Sydney’s aura immediately shifted. “What happened?”

“He’s… in the hospital. Again.”

In a flash, Ali felt the bed dip and she was getting pulled into Sydney’s warm embrace. She thought she got it all out. The tears, the emotions, the fear. But as soon as those arms came around her, her wrapped her fists in Sydney’s warmth and they flowed like a river. Her voice hiccupped when she tried to speak. Her body shook as it tried to catch up to her emotions.

She wasn’t sure how long she cried for, but a knock at the door reminded her that she wasn’t alone with Sydney. She quickly pulled back, wiping her eyes when a blonde poked her head through.  
Sydney leaned forward, and Ali was grateful when the view of the door was blocked.

“Um,” the hesitancy in the blonde’s voice was more than apparent. “Pinoe is being insufferable downstairs and asked me if Ali wanted to drink or be left alone. She’s desperate to open the drinks she invested in.”

The brunette took a deep breath, nudging Sydney’s side gently and the girl pulled back. “Ashlyn, I’m sorry–”

She immediately smiled and waved off the apology. “Don’t be. Girls yell at me all the time when I kidnap them.”

The joke, despite her internal conflict, brought a smile to Ali’s face. “You make it habit of kidnapping women?”

Ashlyn shrugged. “Only the pretty ones.”

“That’s sexist,” Sydney said, crossing her arms. “How dare you leave out the less fortunate.”

“What? Like you and Pinoe?”

Sydney gasped and threw the first object she could find at the blonde. That just so happened to be a pen and Ashlyn ducked behind the door, just in case. “Relax, you’re gorgeous. I take it all back.”

“You better,” Sydney grumbled.

Ali found herself smiling at the banter. She rarely spent much time with Ashlyn personally, only seeing her in the house when she and Meagan were getting into trouble. But she always admired the girl’s ability to put a smile on people’s face and she was such a people person. Ali figured tonight would be a night she needed someone like that. She didn’t want to think about Kyle, about what he’s going through.

“Well, Pinoe and I are going to start drinking and watching scary movies,” Ashlyn said slowly, as if she was hoping they’d stop her and say they’ll tag along. “If anyone is interested. Just letting you guys know. But think of me if you want to leave me her all by myself. She’s my best friend, but she’s a handful. And sometimes it takes a blond, a brunette, and Sydney to keep her under control–”

“Enough,” Sydney rolled her eyes, shooing Ashlyn out of the broom. The door closed behind her, and Sydney’s hand dropped to Ali’s knee. “It’s totally up to you if you feel like you need to keep on crying it out or piss your pants tonight. Your choice.”

“You could’ve used a better choice of words,” Ali said with a quirk of an eyebrow. Then she nodded though. “I could really use the distraction, actually.”

Sydney looked surprised. “But you hate scary movies.”

“Exactly.”

\----------------

Ashlyn smiled when Ali’s head ducked into Sydney, yet again, to avoid the horror on screen. At least since they came down here to watch the Conjuring, Ali hadn’t cried once. She’d screamed, and cursed, and argued with the TV, but no crying. The girl was finally calming down from whatever bothered her earlier that evening, and Ashlyn was grateful for that.

Pinoe caused chaos the entire time, of course. She spilt her wine, dropped a bag of popcorn, and managed to stumble over Sydney’s feet and fall into Ashlyn’s lap. All in a day’s work of knowing Meagan Rapinoe. Which is why she always called it in early, saying that she was feeling like her friends went from three to six and it was making her dizzy.

Without drinking near as much, Ashlyn at least felt buzzed but not out of control. It was about an hour later that Sydney mentioned going to sleep. Ali leaned up from her friend’s shoulder, frowning. Sydney was a night owl. It was barely midnight. The girl just shrugged when Ali pointed that out and left as the credits rolled on the TV.

Ashlyn, not sure what to do in Sydney’s absence, leaned forward for the remote, hitting the back button on the Netflix page. “Well, did you want to go home?”

Ali sighed instead of answering, dropping her head to her hands and leaned forward on her elbows. She looked like she reverted right back to the thoughts that consumed her hours before. Ashlyn frowned, unsure what to do.

Finally, Ali spoke. “I’m exhausted.”

With a hum, Ashlyn nodded. Again, unsure what she should do or say. She’d never been alone with Ali more than a few seconds before someone flew back into the room. And the alcohol should help but it wasn’t coming up with any conversation starters.

“I think I’ll stay here for the night,” finally Ali stated, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands. “I… don’t want to deal with Jess and whatever questions she’ll have. She didn’t know I was leaving, much less going to be gone this long.”

Driving back wasn’t going to be exciting, but Ashlyn nodded. There was only one couch anyway. “Okay, do you know here the blankets are?”

Ali nodded. And when Ashlyn stood, she frowned. “Are you driving?”

“Well, yeah. I have to head back to the dorms.”

“But you’ve been drinking.”

“I didn’t have a lot. I’m fine to–”

“Please don’t say it,” Ail begged, eyes wide with concern in the dark room lit by only the TV and moonlight. “Please.”

The way she said it, as if the thought broke her made Ashlyn pause in her movements. Instead of reaching for her keys, she slowly sat back down, arm going to the back of the couch to face Ali a little bit more. Normally, she’d get offended. But the way Ali said it wasn’t as if she was accusing but sad.

“Okay,” Ashlyn settled on, unsure how to ask what she wanted so she didn’t. She bit her lip when Ali visibly relaxed at her agreement. “But there’s only one couch, and I refuse to take it.”

Ali chuckled next to her, tilting her head to finally look at her. “Well, I refuse to be the reason you sleep on the floor.”

“Ditto.”

They stared at each other for a moment, and saw a small blush on Ali’s cheeks in the dim lighting before someone cleared their throat.

They both looked over towards the stairs, Sydney leaning propped in the doorway dressed her in sweatpants and a tank top. “We have a third bedroom.”

“You don’t have a bed, though, do you?”

“Yeah, Rachel leant it to us this year. There’s no box spring but it’s on the floor, all alone and unused.”

Ashlyn completely forgot about that. “But–”

“It’s a queen, it’ll fit both of you.”

The nervousness coming off of Ali was blatantly obvious. “Why don’t you take the bed?” Ashlyn offered. “I’ll take the couch.”

“The couch is brutal on your back,” Sydney warned.

Ashlyn wanted to throw the remote at her head. “I’ll be fine.”

“I don’t want to hear you complain tomorrow.”

“I won’t.”

“I’ve heard that before. You bitched for a week last time. Made me tie your shoes for you as retribution.”

“We can share,” Ali said in a weak, small voice and it caught Ashlyn’s ears like thunder. She saw Sydney smirk when Ali turned her back, facing Ashlyn now. If she could, the blonde would for sure throw the whole TV at Sydney’s head. “If you’re comfortable with it.”

“She’ll be fine,” Sydney smirked. “Come on, I got some extra toothbrushes too.”

\-----------------------

Ashlyn woke to hair in her face and warmth. She snuggled closer, her brain trying to wrack and remember where she was and it came flooding in after a few seconds. She remember the few cups of wine, the scary movies, Sydney’s infuriating smirk.

And it was confirmed when she felt Ali shift next to her. They were pressed together, and the brunette had one leg thrown over Ashlyn’s. The rest of her was spread on her back, one arm at her side and the other out to lean off the side of the mattress. She looked so relaxed, and Ashlyn pushed herself up on her elbows, lying on her side, and chuckled to herself. The girl was a bed hog, and it was cute. She was still a mess with puffy eyes from yesterday, the brown waves all over her face. But she was beautiful, much to Ashlyn’s amazement.

She smelt the coffee downstairs a few moments later, realizing Ali had to be fast asleep still based on the smooth rhythm of her chest rising and falling. Slowly, Ashlyn moved Ali’s leg off of her own and slid out of the bed, chuckling when Ali groaned in her sleep but otherwise didn’t move.

She grabbed her black snapback, throwing it on her head and fixing her shorts and t-shirt. With a sniff, she immediately grabbed some extra deodorant from the bathroom attached to Sydney’s room. Then, with slow, deliberate steps, Ashlyn managed to step out of the plain, empty except for a bed extra room and it clicked closed behind her.

“Sleep okay?”

“Jesus!” she jumped, turning to glare at Meagan who sipped her coffee knowingly. “Why are you like this?”

“Syd told me you two stayed. When no one was on the couch, I was curious. I figured Ali would’ve stayed in Sydney’s room.”

“She told me Ali kicks in her sleep,” Ashlyn said with a roll of her eyes, grabbing Meagan’s coffee and moving past her. “It was a shitty excuse. And the couch is shitty. It was all pretty shitty.”

“You should be thanking her.”

“Can I get hydrated before you start bombarding with questions?”

“Did something happen between you guys?”

They made it into the kitchen at that moment, Ashlyn busying herself to find the pancake mix that she knew Sydney loved. “No. I was tired. She was tired. We went to sleep.”

“No cuddles?”

“I didn’t say that.”

With a huff, Pinoe reached forward and grabbed her coffee back, spilling some out of Ashlyn’s hand and onto the counter. “Hey!”

“If you don’t give me answers, I won’t give you coffee.”

So dramatic. Ashlyn rolled her eyes, moving to the Keurig to brew her own. Pinoe huffed in defeat.

It was a few minutes later that Sydney made her way down on that Saturday morning, stretching her arms above her head in her workout gear and eyeing the bowl of pancake mix that Ashlyn had prepared. She immediately pouted. “Not fair. I have to work out today.”

“We all do,” Pinoe sighed.

“Just wait for us,” Ashlyn offered, mixing the dough and reaching to pull out a pan on the stove. “We’re getting together with some of the team for a small practice anyway. I think Tobin wants a pick-up game to kick off.”

Sydney dropped next to the bar stool that Pinoe occupied, eyeing the pancake mix. “Watching you make me breakfast does sound more appealing.”

“Is it the hat?” Ashlyn teased.

Sydney nodded with a smirk. “That hat is one the sexiest things you own.”

“Careful, Sydney, I’d think you’re actually interested.”

She laughed back. “As if I have a chance.”

Pinoe chuckled too. “Yeah, Ashlyn only has eyes for–”

“G’morning,” came a tired, mumbling voice. Ashlyn paused where she was about to pour the pancake mix into the bubbling butter, feeling her throat go dry at the girl moving into the kitchen.  
Ali had thrown her hair into a bun, apparently slipped into Sydney’s sweatshirt she stole from Dom, because it was covering Ali’s entire torso and Ashlyn couldn’t remember for a moment if she was wearing boy shorts or panties. And the idea made her eyes widen for a brief moment before realizing that Pinoe was wiggling her eyebrows at her like an idiot.

“Hi,” she finally blurted out, warning Pinoe with her eyes. “You sleep okay? I hope you like pancakes.”

Ali slid into the final barstool at the counter, elbows dropping to the counter and she rested her head in her hands. “Hmm, I love pancakes.”

Sydney chuckled when Ali yawned in her hands, moving then to rest her head on her arms against the counter. Ashlyn busied herself with the food in order not to stare at how cute she was. “You sleep okay?” she heard Sydney ask.

“Better than expected, actually.”

“Any news?”

“Mom said she’d keep me updated. He made it through the night though.”

Ashlyn frowned with her back to the girls, trying to focus on the food. What happened that made Ali upset like she was? Pinoe seemed to know something, but wouldn’t tell her anything yesterday. For once, she actually kept her mouth shut, which Ashlyn both loathed and respected.

“Are you going to try to fly down there?”

“I don’t know yet. I guess I need to make that decision sometime today, and I'll have to talk to Coach about it.”

“Well, if you need anything–”

“Thanks Syd,” Ali interrupted with a heavy voice. “I know.”

Silence fell over the group, save for the sound of the popping pancake batter and butter in the pan. So many questions ran through Ashlyn’s head, but she wasn’t going to ask them. It wasn’t her place. Pinoe was her friend. Sydney was Ali’s friend. And Ali and Ashlyn weren’t friends, they were acquaintances. That was line she couldn’t cross just yet.

One day, maybe, she’d be someone Ali confided in. Maybe one day, she’d be even more than that.

One day.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you think :) It was short, but I hoped you liked it!


End file.
